Caterham Roadsport - running costs
Discussion
Hoolio,
Running costs for caterhams are surprisingly very low. You can do plenty of routine servicing yourself such as oil and filter changes, coolant change, brake pad check and replacement etc. Most things are pretty accessible and easy to get from Caterham or one of the well known independents. If you fancy having a go at trackdays where the Caterhams excel, the lightness of the car means things like tyres and brakes don't wear anywhere as heavily as other cars on the circuits. For general road use, I would expect servicing costs to be in the very low hundreds each year dependant on miles.
Roadsport cars have K series engines in which in its most basic 1600K series format produces 115-120 BHP and is a very reliable unit. Probably the worst thing you could expect is a head gasaket failure (HGF) but even this is relatively simple to sort out yourself or with the assistance of local owners who would probably step forward if you put a call out. An invaluable source of information is the Lotus 7 Club website (www.blatchat.com) which you can read for free and email people direct but you need to be a current club member to post on the website. It costs £40 per year and it will probably be money very well spent for a new owner.
So, good luck with your search for a seven. You won't look back!!
Cheers
T
Running costs for caterhams are surprisingly very low. You can do plenty of routine servicing yourself such as oil and filter changes, coolant change, brake pad check and replacement etc. Most things are pretty accessible and easy to get from Caterham or one of the well known independents. If you fancy having a go at trackdays where the Caterhams excel, the lightness of the car means things like tyres and brakes don't wear anywhere as heavily as other cars on the circuits. For general road use, I would expect servicing costs to be in the very low hundreds each year dependant on miles.
Roadsport cars have K series engines in which in its most basic 1600K series format produces 115-120 BHP and is a very reliable unit. Probably the worst thing you could expect is a head gasaket failure (HGF) but even this is relatively simple to sort out yourself or with the assistance of local owners who would probably step forward if you put a call out. An invaluable source of information is the Lotus 7 Club website (www.blatchat.com) which you can read for free and email people direct but you need to be a current club member to post on the website. It costs £40 per year and it will probably be money very well spent for a new owner.
So, good luck with your search for a seven. You won't look back!!
Cheers
T
Tango7 said:
Hoolio,
Running costs for caterhams are surprisingly very low. You can do plenty of routine servicing yourself such as oil and filter changes, coolant change, brake pad check and replacement etc. Most things are pretty accessible and easy to get from Caterham or one of the well known independents. If you fancy having a go at trackdays where the Caterhams excel, the lightness of the car means things like tyres and brakes don't wear anywhere as heavily as other cars on the circuits. For general road use, I would expect servicing costs to be in the very low hundreds each year dependant on miles.
Roadsport cars have K series engines in which in its most basic 1600K series format produces 115-120 BHP and is a very reliable unit. Probably the worst thing you could expect is a head gasaket failure (HGF) but even this is relatively simple to sort out yourself or with the assistance of local owners who would probably step forward if you put a call out. An invaluable source of information is the Lotus 7 Club website (www.blatchat.com) which you can read for free and email people direct but you need to be a current club member to post on the website. It costs £40 per year and it will probably be money very well spent for a new owner.
So, good luck with your search for a seven. You won't look back!!
Cheers
T
Thanks Tango7, some useful advise.Running costs for caterhams are surprisingly very low. You can do plenty of routine servicing yourself such as oil and filter changes, coolant change, brake pad check and replacement etc. Most things are pretty accessible and easy to get from Caterham or one of the well known independents. If you fancy having a go at trackdays where the Caterhams excel, the lightness of the car means things like tyres and brakes don't wear anywhere as heavily as other cars on the circuits. For general road use, I would expect servicing costs to be in the very low hundreds each year dependant on miles.
Roadsport cars have K series engines in which in its most basic 1600K series format produces 115-120 BHP and is a very reliable unit. Probably the worst thing you could expect is a head gasaket failure (HGF) but even this is relatively simple to sort out yourself or with the assistance of local owners who would probably step forward if you put a call out. An invaluable source of information is the Lotus 7 Club website (www.blatchat.com) which you can read for free and email people direct but you need to be a current club member to post on the website. It costs £40 per year and it will probably be money very well spent for a new owner.
So, good luck with your search for a seven. You won't look back!!
Cheers
T
I'm no expert, but my Roadsport cost less than £1000 per year to run for the two years I had it - including insurance, service, MoT, tyres, brakes. Pretty much everything except fuel! And it didn't drink much of that.
Having said that I didn't spend anything on upgrades like many people do, and I did only one track day so my wear and tear on servicable items was quite low.
Only serious known problem is HGF as mentioned by T7 - but do the usual check and you should be fine.
TBH bang for buck there's nothing quite like it, certainly not value wise - and residuals are good, I lost £100 on mine!
Having said that I didn't spend anything on upgrades like many people do, and I did only one track day so my wear and tear on servicable items was quite low.
Only serious known problem is HGF as mentioned by T7 - but do the usual check and you should be fine.
TBH bang for buck there's nothing quite like it, certainly not value wise - and residuals are good, I lost £100 on mine!
I'll second the comments above.
I've had my Supersport for just over a year and running costs have been very reasonable. My Insurance is a whopping £135
for a limited 5000 miles and tyres are also very reasonable as most are only 185x60 or similar. Make sure you don't get Michelin Pilots or similar which are totally unsuitable for such a light car, and verging on dangerous. A lot of people use Yokohama or Toyo Proxes etc.
Definitely join the club as the benefits are well worthwhile.
Good Luck!
I've had my Supersport for just over a year and running costs have been very reasonable. My Insurance is a whopping £135
for a limited 5000 miles and tyres are also very reasonable as most are only 185x60 or similar. Make sure you don't get Michelin Pilots or similar which are totally unsuitable for such a light car, and verging on dangerous. A lot of people use Yokohama or Toyo Proxes etc.Definitely join the club as the benefits are well worthwhile.
Good Luck!
Had a 2002 1.8 Supersport for 12 months now (1 owner 3k miles for £16k)
Costs over 12 months & 5,500 miles:
Insurance = £230 for 2 named drivers @ 6k miles pa
Tax = £140 (I think)
Tyres = 2x £64 / corner for Yoko AO48's
Service- going in to caterham Midlands next week = Estimate £160
Fuel: anything from c.15 - 40 mpg. Depends how you drive it. Say average 27 = £900
Depreciation= Minimal so long as you buy well. You will do well to buy one Nov / Dec and sell April - June. Estimate £500 - £1000, say £750.
Total annual costs (including fuel) = £2,300 £0.42 / mile
I own it 50:50 with a good friend, so 3,000 miles pa cost me £1,150.
Go for it- best decision you will ever make. I justifyu it to my wife by saying that I'm likely to lose less money in a Caterham than on the stock exchange!
Costs over 12 months & 5,500 miles:
Insurance = £230 for 2 named drivers @ 6k miles pa
Tax = £140 (I think)
Tyres = 2x £64 / corner for Yoko AO48's
Service- going in to caterham Midlands next week = Estimate £160
Fuel: anything from c.15 - 40 mpg. Depends how you drive it. Say average 27 = £900
Depreciation= Minimal so long as you buy well. You will do well to buy one Nov / Dec and sell April - June. Estimate £500 - £1000, say £750.
Total annual costs (including fuel) = £2,300 £0.42 / mile
I own it 50:50 with a good friend, so 3,000 miles pa cost me £1,150.
Go for it- best decision you will ever make. I justifyu it to my wife by saying that I'm likely to lose less money in a Caterham than on the stock exchange!
so my £1k a year running costs might be more than average. I also had it serviced by an indy, which obviously costs me more than if I could do it myself.Hoolio,
"Probably looking at spending 10-15k and as new as possible"
Why as new as possible?
With these cars, its much more important to look a specification and condition, than age.
Whilst a standard 1600 or 1800 with a 5 speed box are good, either engine size with the Supersport conversion, and a six speed gearbox, make the driving experience a better one.
Before choosing a car, get along to a local Lotus 7 club meeting and talk to as many people as possible.
"Probably looking at spending 10-15k and as new as possible"
Why as new as possible?
With these cars, its much more important to look a specification and condition, than age.
Whilst a standard 1600 or 1800 with a 5 speed box are good, either engine size with the Supersport conversion, and a six speed gearbox, make the driving experience a better one.
Before choosing a car, get along to a local Lotus 7 club meeting and talk to as many people as possible.
I have a Roadsport 160 and it costs very little to run.
Total costs since new:
Tax: £160 / year
Insurance: £340 / year (i' young(ish)
Servicing - I have had mine done by caterham. The first service was at 6,000 miles, this was around £350. The second was the 12,000 miles one, which is a bigger servie and was c. £450.
I replaced the tyres it can with (Avon ZV3's) and moved it to Yoko AO48's - all in about £300. I have had to replace the rears, this was after about 5,000 miles of enthusiastic driving.
This year's service should be cheap as it will just be for 3,000 miles. it seemed to be permanently raining last year, so it didn't get used that much, and I bought an elise too that year. Hopign to use it more this year.
As for fuel, i have never bothered to count. it's more about smiles per mile, rather than miles per gallon. Having a k-series means that you don't get robbed at the petrol station, unlike the x-flow boys.
Total costs since new:
Tax: £160 / year
Insurance: £340 / year (i' young(ish)
Servicing - I have had mine done by caterham. The first service was at 6,000 miles, this was around £350. The second was the 12,000 miles one, which is a bigger servie and was c. £450.
I replaced the tyres it can with (Avon ZV3's) and moved it to Yoko AO48's - all in about £300. I have had to replace the rears, this was after about 5,000 miles of enthusiastic driving.
This year's service should be cheap as it will just be for 3,000 miles. it seemed to be permanently raining last year, so it didn't get used that much, and I bought an elise too that year. Hopign to use it more this year.
As for fuel, i have never bothered to count. it's more about smiles per mile, rather than miles per gallon. Having a k-series means that you don't get robbed at the petrol station, unlike the x-flow boys.
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